Many years ago, before Colette Patterns became Seamwork, I downloaded their Sorbetto pattern to make for myself. It is a cute, basic tank top that works up easily. My one problem with it was, I needed to do a Full Bust Adjustment to make it fit. I was intimidated. I shouldn’t have been.

The first one I made, I used cheap fabric – the same as my gym shorts – and pre-made bias tape. It took a couple of tries to make the pattern adjustments. The first draft was WAY too big; I calculated the bust darts in correctly and needed to size down a couple of inches.

After fiddling with the measurements and re-cutting the pattern, I got something wearable that wasn’t a tent.

The red bias binding really makes it!

The shirt looks more pajama-esque in person 🙂 but I tried it a couple of more times. The next Sorbetto I made with fabric I bought at a “300 yen a meter” store in Nippori. It is really cute with little animals all over it. I made the bias binding myself – a first for me! Turns out it isn’t that difficult, just a little time consuming.

The “Flora and Fauna” Sorbetto, as I like to call it, ended up a tab shorter than I intended so I lengthened the pattern a bit for the next version. I used a bright pink thread that matched the pink deer. This picture is a better representation of the colors.

The next one I made was from some flowy fabric I bought at Michael Levine’s $2 per pound store which no longer exists. I made a skirt with the same fabric years ago but this was made from the last of the remnants. Made my own bias tape again – this pattern now has an extra inch and a half in length.

This next one, I made from fabric I got at the same time as the Flora top above. It’s a scarf-like charmeuse, in green and navy. This one also has a matching a head scarf.

If you aren’t making significant pattern adjustments, or making your own bias tape, the pattern works up really quickly. It takes me over an hour to make the bias tape and then another hour or so to sew everything together. The first version took me a couple of days to figure out the FBA and sew up the firs mock up. If you want to learn the FBA, I highly suggest checking out the Curvy Sewing Collective’s instructions; they are really simple to follow.